Time Is Tight

At noon of April 10, 2017, two days after the end of her Summit Chess Match with Vassily Mykhaylovych Ivanchuk, 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) held a convivial meeting with the students of the CUHK-深圳 (Shēnzhèn) (Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shēnzhèn), 龙岗区 (Lónggǎng District), 深圳 (Shēnzhèn), China speaking about her dual career as professional chess player and as a diplomat. There is no a magic recipe that works the same for each goal, but her advice is as good for chess as it is for graduate university studies: “When you run into a bottleneck, you should face it with a positive attitude. Do not forget your heart, cling to your hopes, keep cool and go on doing the best you can until you arrive where you want to be”. As for herself, she had to split her time between academic studies, chess studying, and chess playing. She usually takes part in chess tournaments mostly during summer months, often sacrificing her holidays. “It’s hard but worthwhile”, she said. All photos: sohu.com.